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c/auto-body-repairers

27

abbyr96•9h ago

Warning: Saw a frame straightening job go wrong in 4 months flat

I saw this F-150 come through our shop last week that had been pulled at another place back in February. Looked fine at first but now the cab mounts are cracked and the bed sits 3/4 inch off. They used a cheap chain setup instead of a proper rack. The owner is looking at a $4k bill now. Has anyone else seen repairs come back like this from shops cutting corners on structural pulls?

12

wesley_hart•2d ago

Had a week where every repair went sideways on me

Three days straight, I was fighting a 2015 Silverado rear quarter panel that just wouldn't line up no matter how many times I pulled it. Then a Honda Civic came in with a dent the size of a dinner plate that turned into a full replacement when I found rust hiding underneath. Anyone else ever have a stretch where it feels like the cars are ganging up on you?

5

susan_ward•2d ago

Lost a whole door skin because I got in a hurry

Back in 2019 I was working on a '97 Civic down in the old shop off Elm Street. Customer wanted a quick repair on the driver door, small dent nothing major. I figured I'd save time, skip the heat check on the adhesive. Big mistake. Got the stud welder going, slapped the slide hammer on, pulled too hard. The whole skin rippled and tore right at the body line. Had to order a new door shell, cost the shop $280 and I ate a day of labor. My lead guy just looked at me and said "told you to slow down." Now I always test pull with low heat first, even if the job seems simple. You guys ever ruin a panel rushing?

8

coleman.jamie•4d ago

Caught a body shop in Denton mixing bondo in a dirty bucket last Tuesday

Watched a guy scrape old dust and paint flakes right into his fresh batch of filler before applying it to a customer's quarter panel, and I stood there for a minute before he even noticed me looking, anyone else seen corners like this getting cut around town?

5

the_richard•6d ago

Masking tape peeled my paint this morning on a 2023 Honda Civic

Three hours into blocking out a rear quarter panel, I pulled the tape and the base coat came right off with it. The tape was 3M Fine Line I've used a hundred times before, but this batch must have sat in the sun too long. I had to scuff it all back down to primer and respray. Customer comes back tomorrow so now I'm working late. The humidity has been awful in our garage near Portland this month, maybe that did it. Has anyone else had fresh 3M tape start pulling paint like that?

16

miles54•8d ago

Cruised by a salvage yard in Bakersfield today and spotted something smart

I was picking up a quarter panel at Pick Your Part down off Roberts Lane and walked past this old guy working on a Chevy Silverado. He had the whole front clip off and was using a wheeled cart from Harbor Freight to hold the bumper and grille assembly while he lined it up. No jacking around with a floor jack and blocks of wood like I usually see. He just rolled the whole thing into position, bolted it on, and slid the cart out from under. I stood there for a minute watching and he didn't even look up. It made me think about how much time I waste fighting heavy parts on my own. I am going to grab one of those carts next week for sure. Has anyone else found a weird simple tool that saved them hours on a big job like this?

23

wesleyburns•9d ago

Had one of those unicorn weeks where everything just lined up right

Last Tuesday I had a 2018 F-150 come in with a nasty dent in the tailgate, the kind you usually gotta pound out for an hour. But I tried that new slide hammer with the screw tip I picked up from the Matco guy, and that thing pulled it out in like 4 pulls. Then a guy walked in off the street and paid cash for a used bumper I had sitting in the back for 6 months. By Friday I was 2 days ahead of schedule on a full quarter panel replacement. Anybody else ever get a string of jobs that just feel too easy?

26

michael693•11d ago

PSA: That waterborne primer can shock you if your gun isn't grounded right

I was spraying a hood at my shop in Austin last Tuesday and got a jolt so bad I dropped the gun. Thought my hose was bad until my buddy pointed out the ground wire on my booth was loose. Turns out waterborne primer builds up static like crazy if you don't have a proper path to ground. I spent 20 minutes re-running the ground strap to the rack and no more zaps. Anyone else run into this with waterborne paints?

1

grant.richard•13d ago

Warning: That cheap paint booth filter pack I bought off Amazon clogged in 2 days

I know we all cut corners sometimes (myself included) but I grabbed a 4-pack of those no-name booth intake filters for $28 last Tuesday. First job was a Dodge Charger in bright red. By the second fender, the airflow dropped so bad I had orange peel on the clear coat. Had to stop mid-job and run to the local supply house for name brand ones at $18 each. The cheap ones looked like a dirty vacuum bag. Has anyone else had a supplier switch their filter stock without warning? I'm wondering if mine were just old stock dried out.

6

grantl94•14d ago

Found a weird trick for removing old bumper stickers without fading paint underneath

I had a 2010 Civic in the shop last Tuesday with three giant stickers on the hatch that looked like they'd been there since 2012. Heat gun and goo gone were just smearing the adhesive and leaving ghost outlines. Out of frustration I grabbed a can of foaming glass cleaner and a microfiber, sprayed it heavy, and let it soak for like 5 minutes. The stickers lifted right off with zero residue and the paint underneath was basically untouched. No idea why it worked but I've tried it on two other cars since with the same result. Anyone else got a random household product hack that saved their day on a weird paint issue?

2

lilychen•15d ago

Old timer at the shop said I was sanding clear coat wrong. He was dead on.

Guy named Dave who's been doing this since the 80s watched me wet sand a bumper and just shook his head. He told me I was going too slow with too much pressure, said I was burning through the clear before I even hit the final grit. Tried his method of lighter passes and faster strokes on a Toyota Camry last Wednesday and the finish came out way smoother. Anyone else had an old pro call them out on something they thought they had down?

26

jake_hall88•15d ago

Wasted $400 on a "pro-grade" paint mixing system that just clogged every time

Bought this fancy digital mixing setup from a rep at the trade show last fall. Thought it would save me time and give perfect ratios every shot. Three weeks in and the nozzles kept plugging up with dried paint. Spent more time cleaning it than actually painting. The old manual stick method never failed me for 10 years. Has anyone else gotten burned by these overpriced gimmicks?

18

seth_carr•15d ago

I chose a harbor freight paint gun over a $600 name brand and my last 8 jobs came out just as good

Had a painter at the shop tell me I was wasting my time with cheap tools, but after laying down two coats of urethane on a 2018 F-150 with zero orange peel, I think the real waste is paying for a brand.

28

susan_ward•17d ago

That time a guy in San Antonio showed me his trick for avoiding fish eyes

I was working on a bumper repair at a shop in San Antonio last spring. Old timer named Miguel walked over and watched me struggle with fisheyes in my primer for a minute. He just said, "you're wiping too fast, let the solvent flash off first." Then he showed me his rag folding method and how he sprays a light tack coat before the full prime. Been doing it his way for 6 months now and I barely get any fisheyes. Anyone else pick up a weird technique from a random guy at another shop?

8

jade_hernandez•17d ago

Got burned using a heat gun on a 2018 Honda Civic bumper

I was at my shop in Austin last Tuesday trying to fix a crack on a Civic bumper. I figured I'd speed things up with a heat gun on high to soften the plastic before welding. Big mistake, the heat caused the paint to bubble and the plastic to warp in like 20 seconds flat. Had to step back, let it cool, and use a plastic welder at a lower temp instead. Took me an extra hour to smooth everything out and repatch it. Anybody else have a heat gun disaster on modern bumpers?

21

lily394•18d ago

Switched from rattle cans to a HVLP gun after a bumper job in July went wrong

I used to think rattle cans were fine for small jobs like mirror caps or trim pieces. Then I had to paint a replacement bumper on a 2018 Civic and the clear coat came out looking like orange peel. I spent 4 hours sanding and buffing that thing and it still looked off. My buddy at the shop let me borrow his HVLP gun for the next one and the finish came out SMOOTH with zero dust nibs. Has anyone else made the switch and found it saved them time on correction?

16

gibson.oliver•18d ago

Switched from block sanding dry to wet sanding after a nightmare paint job in Phoenix last July

I used to block sand everything dry because I thought wet was a waste of time and water. But after doing a 2019 Ford F-150 hood in that July heat, the dry dust kept clogging my paper every ten seconds. Now I bust out the spray bottle and a bucket for any clear coat work, saves me paper and frustration. Has anyone else found that wet sanding cuts down on orange peel on metallic paints?

16

troy_ross•18d ago

Still annoyed about that cracked windshield job from last week

I had a 2018 Civic come in with a crack that ran from the passenger side all the way across. Customer didn't want to pay for a full replacement, just wanted me to fill it. I knew it wouldn't hold but I tried their way first. After 3 tries with different resin kits it still spidered out. Finally just did the full replacement like I said from the start and charged them the labor for the wasted attempts. Has anyone else dealt with customers who think filler resin fixes everything?

1

michaela16•19d ago

Stop using Bondo to fill inner wheel wells - it traps moisture and rots from the inside

I saw 3 cars come through my shop last month with that exact problem. Customer said another shop did it 6 months ago. When I cut into it, the rust was 4 times worse than before because the Bondo held water against the metal. Use a seam sealer or weld in a patch panel instead. Has anyone else seen this happen on older trucks especially?

6

michael895•20d ago

Customer brought in a 2005 Civic with a shopping cart wedged under it last Tuesday

Guy drives into my shop in Portland with a whole Safeway cart stuck under his bumper. Dragged it three miles making sparks. Said he hit it backing out and just kept going. Anyone else get stuff like this that makes you wonder how people think?

9

spencer_sanchez67•21d ago

Got burned by a bad paint match at a shop in Phoenix yesterday

I stopped by a supplier in Phoenix yesterday to pick up some custom mix for a 2018 Honda Accord and the color was off by a mile (like, noticeably different in the sun). The guy behind the counter swore their spectrometer was calibrated but I'm wondering if their mixing machine needs a cleaning or something. Has anyone else had issues with paint matches from that place on 27th Avenue?

1

jade3•22d ago

Last Wednesday was the worst day I've had in this trade in years

I was working on a 2018 Toyota Camry rear quarter panel in my shop near Portland when my welder died halfway through a seam. Then the replacement panel I ordered showed up with a big dent right in the middle from shipping. Has anyone else had a string of bad luck like that where nothing goes right for a whole shift?

21

julia_burns9•23d ago

Spent 4 hours fighting a door gap I swore was a hinge issue

Turned out the pinch weld was slightly out of spec by like 2mm, and I was adjusting hinges and latches for nothing. Has anyone else wasted half a day chasing a problem that was actually somewhere totally unexpected?

4

miles54•1mo ago

Tried a different filler on a dent and it shrank way more than I expected

I had a small door ding on a silver Honda Civic last week and decided to try a new brand of filler I picked up at the supply house. Mixed it exactly like the instructions said, but after sanding it down the next morning, there was a noticeable dip right in the middle. Ended up having to redo the whole spot with my regular stuff. I learned that some fillers just don't bond or cure the same, especially if you rush the dry time. Has anyone else had a filler shrink on them like that?

32

lily394•1mo ago

That Tuesday last month when every single car had hidden rot

It was the third week of May and I had four cars come in from the same neighborhood near downtown. Every single one had bondo hiding massive rust holes behind the wheel wells. Has anyone else had a run of cars like that where you wonder if the previous guy was just a total hack or what?